Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 123

Until Lisanne made it safely out of the mountain, it was obvious what fate awaited him as he single-handedly bought time against the spies.

Even to Lisanne, who knew little, this mountain had no place to hide. Exposed in full view of the enemy, he would be forced into a one‑against‑many gunfight, and once each had spent their loaded bullets, he would have to draw his blade and rush in to fight hand‑to‑hand so as not to give them time to reload.

Even now, blood dripped heavily from his forearm and back… in this condition.

And yet, how could he remain so calm? How could he, without hesitation, promise that he would ensure at least she escaped? It was so unbelievable it made her dizzy.

The shock soon turned into betrayal. Lisanne felt neither grateful nor glad for his resolve to save only her. This was wrong. It wasn’t right. It made no sense. She hated it. All of it felt like a lie.

Only then did Lisanne realize. She too had never imagined a world without Ezekiel.

If one of them were to die first, Lisanne had no doubt it would be herself. She had made greater mistakes and her footing in life was weaker. She had always been the one easily swept away by the storms of the world. Never had she imagined that officer of Valdemaira might fight a lonely battle with spies halfway up a mountain and meet death. If someone had told her in the past of today’s future, she would have dismissed it as the delusion of those who envied Ezekiel.

“If I didn’t, you would disappear from the world… That terrified me more, Lisanne. Having once lived in a world where you existed, I couldn’t bear the thought of living again in a world where you were gone.”

Now she understood the kind of fear that made him unable to endure unless he saved her.

Had the confusion that had driven her to leave him all been washed away clean? No. She still resented him a little. She still felt bitter, still burdened. As long as she carried her wounds, there would be days when she would brood over the past. But this wasn’t a pain that could be resolved in a short time. It was a problem they would’ve to untangle together, slowly, over time.

To do that, first they had to live.

They had to live together.

To live and try forgiving past wrongs, to live and try healing their hearts, to live and dare to love again, and as they lived… perhaps someday they could become happy.

Yes, they would become happy.

Who knew? Perhaps that day would come sooner than expected.

“Luck favored me so far with surprise attacks, but that’s only chance. By now, they must be furious. So don’t hesitate, go. Only then will I not be distracted. And a pension will be arranged in your name. I already instructed Montcalm to handle it, so soon you’ll receive word…”

He shouldn’t be so casual, speaking as though he were only sending her off alive.

If she could speak, she would have said no, but with that simplest means gone, her chest felt suffocated. She wanted to talk. To express her thoughts, her feelings directly in her own voice.

Her frustration burned inside her like a fireball lodged within.

It would take only a few words, but unable to utter them, unable to find any way to retrieve the language she had lost…

Lisanne wrapped her arms around Ezekiel’s neck. As she pulled him, Ezekiel, not knowing why, was drawn in.

“…Lisanne?”

And then she pressed her lips to his, blocking the unwanted words spilling from him.

She didn’t linger. Lisanne knew well they had no time. Their pursuers would soon return, and they had to prepare at once.

Even so, in that short breath, the warmth was vivid.

That was enough.

Though it wasn’t their first kiss, Ezekiel couldn’t hide his bewilderment. Rarely had he been so flustered in battle. As if he couldn’t believe the sensation lingering on his lips, he rubbed them, then raised his brows slightly.

Lisanne, meanwhile, pulled firmly away and seized one of Ezekiel’s rifles. It was her declaration that she would shoulder his burden with him.

He had armed himself and come down to the north to protect Lisanne, stuffing every pocket of his clothes with powder and bullets, each packed in single portions. Even in the pockets of the coat she wore, folded scraps of paper rustled.

Lisanne took out the powder and examined it closely. Having never loaded a gun before, she hesitated.

Was she supposed to just pour it in?

As she wondered—

“So this means I’m not supposed to say things you don’t want to hear?”

“……”

“Do you know your way of getting angry makes my heart race? I’d be grateful if you showed it more often.”

At his teasing, Lisanne shot him a glare.

But the softened air lasted only briefly.

“Are you really not going to leave?”

In place of an answer, Lisanne gripped the rifle firmly.

“Of course I’ll do my best, but it will be dangerous.”

She knew that. It didn’t matter.

“If you’re fine with that, then stay by my side.”

Only then did he say the most obvious thing. Lisanne readily nodded.

Ezekiel took the rifle from her hands.

“But staining your hands with blood is my job. These hands are the ones that saved me. Don’t carelessly put a gun in such hands. Killing people is for me to do.”

He swiftly finished loading and supported Lisanne. If they were to get out before the spies returned, they had to move immediately.

Lisanne followed without a hint of weakness. Unlike usual, she strode in long steps, almost running down the slope. Still, the pace felt too slow, and anxiety rose.

She kicked off her slippery slippers and stepped barefoot on the cold ground. It was much better. She had spent years in the dormitory on this mountain slope. She was used to it. Sharp stones and coarse grains of sand cut into her soles, but she had no time to feel the pain, focusing only on running.

“Lisanne, get on my back.”

Afraid their escape route might be revealed, Lisanne clutched her slippers to her chest and kept following. Seeing her desperate fear, Ezekiel offered his back, but Lisanne instead pulled him along. She couldn’t become a burden, not when she already knew no weapons, and if a fight broke out, she would be of no help. To ride on his back would make her only more of a load.

She grabbed her hem in one hand and moved her feet busily. Branches scratched her ankles and calves.

If only they could just make it down the mountain like this, she would wish for nothing more.

But it seemed an impossible hope.

Ezekiel suddenly wrapped her in his arms and rolled down the slope. It happened in an instant.

Bang, bang—deafening gunfire tore through her ears. A piercing ring left her briefly deaf. She hadn’t even seen when Ezekiel had raised the rifle and fired. He had worried she might faint outright when they suddenly ran into spies, but all fears were needless. Facing them, she had no mind to collapse.

Lisanne clutched her ringing ears and looked ahead. Two men, struck by Ezekiel’s bullets, had fallen, but behind them, three surviving spies and Levian took aim at them.

Outnumbered, Ezekiel chose to fire preemptively and thin their ranks as fast as possible. Levian, with several subordinates, instead chose the opposite strategy: splitting into pairs, they fired while the others reloaded.

Levian’s tactic worked. With a woman to protect, Ezekiel couldn’t recklessly close the distance. He had to throw himself about to spoil their aim.

“Don’t panic. The more time passes, the more it works to our advantage. Just don’t get careless.”

Reloading his emptied gun, Levian urged his men. Even if all their shots missed, as long as they kept firing, they could block Major Valdemaira’s approach and save strength. Even while pressed back, the veteran of countless battlefields crouched low and used shadows, making him hard to target.

The woman was barely visible. Major Valdemaira was so desperate he covered her completely with his own body.

Since the big catch had appeared, she was nothing but a small fry.

Narrowing his eyes, Levian aimed carefully at the man. The moment he pulled the trigger, he felt it.

This time, the shot had landed.

Ezekiel shoved Lisanne behind a thick tree trunk. Heat flared from the bullet that tore into his thigh, but he didn’t even blink. If he feared such things, he could never have served as a soldier. It was only one more scar carved among many.

Clamping the bullet in his lips, he poured powder from Lisanne’s trembling hands into the barrel. The paper wrapping was warm from how tightly she had been holding it.

“Lisanne, stay down.”

The nightgown that had been so neat when she left the dormitory was now blackened from rolling in the dirt. At a glance, it was almost indistinguishable from shadow.

He prayed the darkness of night would hide her well.

And that it would also hide her eyes. Today, Lisanne was seeing more corpses than ever before in her life.

Bullets struck the tree bark as the enemy advanced. Flinching at the flying splinters, Lisanne still crouched as he had ordered.

They couldn’t afford to drag out a war of attrition.

Ezekiel listened to the footsteps closing in, surrounding the tree. One, two, three, four. Not a soldier, Akenaus seemed excluded from the encirclement; the uneven steps numbered four.

Now was the time.